Points of Clarification

We had a couple clarifications regarding the photo we ran yesterday showing the tire tracks running over from the newly patched asphalt placed by the Verizon work crews that are installing the company's fiber optic system (FiOS) in Claremont.

First, the photo's location was Scripps Ave. between Mountain and Oxford:

Click on Image to Enlarge

Second, the reader added that the tire track marks in the photo were caused by Verizon, not by people just driving along. All in all, the reader felt Claremont could learn a lot from Fontana, where there seemed to be much more of a resident-friendly effort on the part of that city and the contractors doing the work:

DATE: Thursday, July 30, 2009 7:52 AM
SUBJECT: FIOS
TO: Claremont Buzz

Dear Buzz,

Just a quick one… the marks on the city streets are not caused by cars crossing the patch. They are all caused by Verizon. They poured the patch and immediately drove through it over and over again with their own equipment. They blocked off the streets to residents as they did this. Verizon FIOS and Claremont can take lessons from Fontana!

More Verizon Comments

We received a couple more emails on Verizon's ongoing trenching and road repair for Verizon's fiber optic system (FiOS), which promises to bring speedier Internet service to the area.

The first email, as with the last couple we received, complained about the quality of the construction work and the tracks left behind on city streets by cars that had to cross the patched areas:

SUBJECT: FIOS Constuction
DATE: Wednesday, July 29, 2009 5:29 PM
TO: Claremont Buzz

So the city thinks by painting fresh stripes will dress up the FIOS construction? The phrase "Lipstick on a Pig" comes to mind. The attached YouTube video is what I think of the construction.

[Here the reader attached a link to a commercial by cable company Comcast lampooning Verizon FiOS and the whole system installation process.]

The reader also sent along a photo of work in his/her area:

Then, we received an email from a very satisfied FiOS customer who works in Claremont and lives in Fontana. This person says that the Fontana experience with Verizon's construction crews has been much better than what are readers are reporting. The correspondent also says that the end product offers superior service to the cable company in Fontana. One thing the reader included was a link to the City of Fontana website, which offers residents there information about construction as well as a very useful Verizon contact number for people with questions about the street work:

DATE: Wednesday, July 29, 2009 9:05 PM
SUBJECT: FiOS in Claremont
TO: Claremont Buzz

Dear C-Buzz,

I wanted to comment on the recent FiOS comments as they seem out of line with what I experienced when Verizon came through my Fontana neighborhood.

A few weeks prior to work commencing, my neighbors and I received notification from Verizon that they were about to install FiOS in our neighborhood. The notification included the scope of work as well as what we could expect as far as street/yard trenching, sidewalk removal, restoration, etc. The notification went on to include a number to call if there were questions.

The city of Fontana also went the extra mile and put up a web page on their site covering the FiOS deployment within the city. It was a great help as it included expected start/completion dates for each section of the city. Additionally, the site included valuable Verizon contact information in case of questions/complaints (hint: could still be helpful to Claremont residents). It's really a shame that Claremont isn't providing the same.

Here is the link to the City of Fontana FTTH (Fiber to the Home) web page. http://www.fontana.org/main/pr_releases/2007/verizon_fttp2.htm

Back to the install:

A day before the work was to start, a placard was placed on each door outlining what was to happen along with a questions/complaint number. The construction process was a bit of a mess with temporary patches in the street, sidewalks removed, lawns chewed up, etc. It was only at the point that the fiber-optic cable was installed a couple of weeks later that most of the mess was cleaned up. According to the fiber techs, the final clean up and patching isn't done until they know they can get the fiber through the conduits. This saves having to dig up freshly repaired areas to correct a broken conduit.

Once the fiber was in, the contractor came through the neighborhood and patched the street, poured new concrete sidewalks, repaired/planted lawns, and even sand-blasted the dig-alert marking from the curbs/street. Obviously, the fresh concrete and street paving stood out, but after six months, it was hard to tell that Verizon had been there.

All in all, the process was as smooth as any major utility overlay could be. Perhaps the two commenters with issues are only partly through the process and the final cleanup has yet to be done? I took the opportunity to drive down Scripps today (I work in Claremont), and while I could see where Verizon had been, the quality of the patching looked good to me. Hopefully, that's an indication of how the rest will look when it's finally completed.

As for the FiOS service... It will be worth every bit of the current construction hassles. I remember my Time Warner "extreme" Internet service where I could only get the advertised speed at 3 am. At 6 pm, with everyone else on-line, is was the "extremely slow" Internet service. My FiOS Internet (current package is 25/15) is always fast and running at the advertised speeds no matter the time of day. Fontana just got the FiOS TV service, and again, Time Warner's offering now looks weak. Where on Time Warner I had only one HBO in High Definition, FiOS has all the HBOs in HD (14 in total). Oh, and I'm paying must less than when I had Time Warner.

I suggest a bit of patience as the process runs its course, but if there are unresolved problems, have a look at the Fontana link for help.

best,
Fontana FiOS Customer

Claremont, At It Again

We received an email the other day from a resident complaining about the noise of the construction at the Padua Ave. Park worksite. As you may recall, the city, in the face of a $3.5 million budget deficit, has gone forward with spending $2.4 million from its General Fund on the park.

Here's the reader's note:

DATE: Monday, February 16, 2009 7:51 AM
SUBJECT: construction noise
TO: Claremont Buzz

Dear Insider,

I live near Padua Ave. and have been watching the construction of the new park. The noise from the bulldozers clearing the ground is deafening! They push the boulders they collect as they dig up the ground, and then they dump them into trucks to haul the boulders away. They boulders create a huge racket as they get dropped into the metal sided trucks. It's like marbles rolling around in a tin can except the marbles weigh hundreds of pounds.

Do you know if there is anything we can do about the construction noise?

To tell you the truth, we're not sure. The City has all sorts of rules for construction noise with specific decibel levels for property lines. If you can hear the boulder sounds loudly inside your house with the windows closed, the noise probably exceeds the limits set by Claremont's municipal code. As we've seen in the past, mixing Claremont and bulldozers is a guarantee for trouble.

The Environmental Impact Report for Padua Park made a number of representations that the City would abide by the noise restrictions and would implement mitigations to limit the noise. These included the construction of a wall on the park's south border at Chaminade Ct. In addition, if the rock noise exceeds the City's noise limits, there are things the construction company can do to mitigate the sound. This includes things like putting dirt in the loaders to muffle the sound as the rocks are dropped in.

Here a couple pages from the EIR that describe the specific mitigations the city and its contractor were supposed to do during the construction phase:

Click to Enlarge

As far as we know, the City has failed to do several of the mitigations outlined above. They certainly have failed to construct the wall that the EIR said would be done before any grading commenced. And the contractor has apparently failed to use any sound dampening mitigations.

Because of the City's money problems, they may be trying to skirt the mitigations they promised in the EIR. This would be no surprise. The EIR process is mostly there to get projects passed and to create a cash cow for EIR consultants. As environmental protection, EIRs at least in the hands of cities like Claremont, fail miserably. Once construction begins, if the City chooses to not observe the rules in the EIR, then it is up to residents to get a court order stopping construction until the promised mitigations are enforced.

There's also a punitive aspect to the City's behavior here since residents around the park site had opposed the City's original plans for the project. Don't put it past Claremont Mayor Ellen Taylor (pictured, left) and Claremont City Manager Jeff Parker to take a "Stick it to them!" approach to the construction phase of the project.

We suggest you do three things. First, check the city's EIR for the project mitigations (they are in Appendix C). You can find it here. Second, check Title 16 of the City's municipal code for the applicable city law (16.154.020). Third, spend a little money to hire someone with a calibrated sound meter (the calibration part is important) to measure the construction sound levels at various property lines throughout the neighborhood.

As near as we can gather from the municipal code, the maximum decibel level allowed anywhere in Claremont at anytime is 85 dB. This is the maximum limit because anything above that can cause permanent hearing damage and is considered dangerous. If you are hearing the sound of the rocks in the trucks with your house windows closed, the exterior sound levels outside are likely maxing out at above 85 dB.

If the sound levels exceed Claremont's municipal code restrictions, and if they have failed to institute any of the other EIR mitigations they promised when they approved the EIR, then contact an attorney to get the construction halted. We're not in the habit of endorsing anyone for these sorts of things, but you might contact Ray Johnson in Temecula. He's the attorney the local Protect Our Neighborhoods group has used, and he's had some success against the City and its City Attorney, Sonia Carvalho of Best, Best & Krieger.

Incidentally, if you prevail, the court will generally grant you your attorney fees. You can find Johnson's contact information here.

One other point. All of this should serve to underscore the fact that the city of Claremont has consistently failed to keep its promises and has taken an attitude that says, "So sue us." It really was this attitude that led to the Wilderness Park bulldozing last year, and it is an attitude that continues to manifest itself from time to time in the City's actions. In our view, it should not take litigation to force the city to keep its word to its citizens, but that is what is happening here.

The Padua Park construction also perfectly illustrates how useless things like EIRs are. The City spent $125,000, plus about the same amount for their attorney fees, for the Padua Park EIR, yet the City has failed to implement most of the EIR provisions for the construction phase of the park. You don't see any of the local environmental groups out monitoring this, and the city's youth sports parents could not possibly care less about the impacts their projects cause.

It's a shame a takes a lawsuit to make them and the City care.